Category: Trials

Our Five Minute Friday prompt this week is—OVERCOME. This largely unedited “rough draft” form of writing stretches this perfectionist, in the best of ways. We write for five minutes on a given word. If you’re interested in learning more about 5-Minute Fridays, check out the Five Minute Friday website. Or, click on the link at the bottom of this post. As you read my simpler Friday posts, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!

OVERCOME

God never promised this life would be easy. We all face trials. They can refine us, renew us. They often show us how much we need Jesus.

I have this nasty habit of trying to get through trials in my own strength. I plow through the days, trying to break down the barriers, and get back to my version of normal.

The thing is, God doesn’t allow trials into our lives so that we can navigate them in our own strength. Sure, there are times when we can handle them. And be done with them.

But, how many times have we faced that trial that’s as high as a mountain and as intimidating as a grizzly bear breathing down our backs?

God wants us to walk through those seasons of life with Him. Not in front of or behind Him. He wants us to let Him help us.

When those hard times show up in our lives—and we all face them—He wants us to overcome. The only way we can, though, is by acknowledging how desperately we need God’s help. Our God is greater than anything we’ll face in our lives.

But, if we face those hard times alone, in our own “strength?” We’ll be mown over, sooner or later.

God sometimes waits for us to invite Him into the hard. Sometimes, He withholds the overcoming until we’ve endured the fire that removes dross so we reflect Him more clearly.

And this almost always comes through having the humility to ask God to walk alongside us. To ask Him to be our barrier-breaker. To be the One who gives us strength.

Sometimes, God’s just waiting for us to acknowledge we can’t do “it,” whatever “it” is on our own. Whether it’s pursuing a calling, working toward a dream . . .

Whether it’s facing a scary diagnosis, a job loss, the death of a loved one . . .

He wants to see us victorious, and He wants us to trust Him to walk with us on the journey.

Whatever we are facing, we will overcome with God’s help.

I love Joshua 1:9—

He commands us to be strong and courageous. He tells us not to be afraid or discouraged, but there’s only one reason we can own and live out this command . . . and it’s because He is with us wherever we go.

What about you? When have you sensed God’s presence with you in a trial? When have you seen Him overcome a situation in your life?

How many times has God spoken to us, given us a reassurance—even a promise—and then seemed to renege on it? We hear His words to us, get excited, and immediately envision what that promise fulfilled will look like.

Then, when that first trial comes along, we question God. “Why didn’t You________?” or “Why did You allow __________?” We lose heart because things aren’t going the way we expected them to.

Our Five Minute Friday prompt this week is—FIND. This largely unedited “rough draft” form of writing stretches this perfectionist, in the best of ways. I write for five minutes on a given topic. If you’re interested in learning more about 5-Minute Fridays, check out our hostess,Kate Motaung’ssite. Or, click on the link at the bottom of this post. As you read my simpler Friday posts, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!

FIND

I was petty young the first time I hid on purpose. Not playing hide-and-seek, but really deliberately hid.

My sisters and I were at our cousins’ house. Someone had hurt my feelings, and so I decided to hide. They had a square brick column, maybe four feet high, that sat in the back alley. Back in the day, it’s where people dumped the ashes from their cooking fires. I shimmied in there and waited.

First, I hid because my feelings were hurt. Then, because I was mad, I decided to stay hidden. My aunt, cousins, called my name, waiting for me to respond. No one thought to look in the ash container. So I stayed.

After awhile, it grew lonely, and I got over my mad and came out. I didn’t want to be found, and I’d discovered the perfect hiding spot.

How many times have I wanted someone to find me? Those times when I felt invisible, unseen, insignificant? I wanted someone to find me, to affirm me. I admit, I still struggle with being an affirmation junkie.

Sometimes I’ve hidden to protect my feelings,my heart. But I longed to be found by someone.

God is so sweet. He tells us in Psalm 139 that He sees us in the light, He sees us in the darkness. The darkness is as light to Him. We may try to hide, but He always knows where to find us.

As I read this psalm again this morning, I realized He also finds us in the dark seasons of our lives, when circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. We may feel invisible to the world, to those around us. We may feel invisible to Him, whether we’re trying to hide or not. We may feel engulfed by life’s hard.

But He sees us. He finds us in our dark places.He finds us in the darkest of trials, and He sits with us, walks with us, leads us. He always knows where to find us.

Have you been found by Him lately?

What about you? When have you hidden successfully? When have you wanted to be found?

My Five Minute Friday prompt this week is—KEEP. This largely unedited “rough draft” form of writing stretches this perfectionist, in the best of ways. I write for five minutes on a given topic. If you’re interested in learning more about 5-Minute Fridays, check out our hostess,Kate Motaung’ssite. Or, click on the link at the bottom of this post. As you read my simpler Friday posts, I hope you’ll join in the conversation!

KEEP

As I saw our Five Minute Friday prompt, this verse kept coming to mind. There are days (like today) where I’ve longed to know and walk in God’s perfect peace.

On those days when there are more to-do’s than there is day, I feel stress. When I’m on my own with the kids for the week, when unexpected events steal my time—distract me from my plans—these are the days when God’s peace seems far away.

These are also the days when I tend to become more focused on the day than on the Giver of the day. How do I keep my eyes on Him in the midst of crazy? In the midst of sick kids and planning for trips we may not be able to take? In the midst of taking care of car repairs and not getting the things done that weigh on my heart and mind like a wet wool blanket?

When the diagnoses come that steal everything else, they don’t have to steal peace, permanently. If I’m trusting God for His best outcome.

I’m learning it’s discipline. It’s choosing.

It’s in the choosing that I can know God’s peace. Choosing to trust Him when life goes haywire. Choosing to believe His word when my days go in directions I never anticipated, and I can hardly breathe for the stress and the busyness of them.

When I keep my eyes on Him, when I choose to believe that what God says is absolute truth? That’s when I can know his perfect peace.

This is how I can walk in perfect peace. And I do it very imperfectly this side of heaven. I probably always will.

So, I’ll just continue to practice keeping my mind stayed upon Him.

What about you? What are the peace-stealers in your life? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when life doesn’t cooperate?

Have you ever read something in the Bible many times, and this time when you read it, a certain truth smacks you in the face?

I was reading about King Hezekiah in Second Chronicles recently. I noticed a truth that I’d never considered before. When he was under attack from Sennacherib, the dominating king of Assyria, Hezekiah’s relationship with God was solid. He prepared his people, and his city. In humility, he leaned hard on God. He prayed and trusted that God would deliver them.

Fog wrapped around my vehicle as I pulled from the garage. I glanced to the left and the right—twice—before steering onto the street. In a way, I felt as if I was the only person on the road.

There’s something almost eerie about driving when you can’t see anything around you. I’m comfortable driving in various conditions, but my hands still gripped the steering wheel. I leaned forward to check for shadows before me. Headlights from the other direction sliced through the soup, cutting a path in the mist.

Snowflakes leave me in awe. So small, yet so incredibly beautiful. Crafted so that each one has intrinsic similarities and yet are absolutely unique. As winter snows visit our little corner of the country, I find myself gazing out windows as snow falls quiet. Steady.

I’m reading The Hardest Peace, by Kara Tippetts. This book shares her story—of her life, her cancer journey—and the beautiful, deep lessons she’s learning. I come away from each chapter moved, wanting to grow deeper in love with Jesus.

Jeanne Takenaka writes contemporary inspirational fiction that deals with real life issues with a heart to draw women closer to God and to those around them. She is wife to one amazing man who is her real life hero, and mother to two exuberant boys who hope to one day have a dog of their own. She loves being God’s girl always learning about His grace, hanging out with friends and enjoying a great cup of coffee. She and her family live near the mountains in Colorado. She is a member of ACFW and My Book Therapy Voices.

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Each Tuesday and most Fridays I post on topics relating to life, relationships and those passions held in hearts and lived out each day.

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